Martial Peak

Chapter 2172, Realm of Winter

“It is an honour for you to become this Sir’s meal. Who shall come up first?” Qiong Qi looked down and asked in a deep voice.

No one dared to answer as each Emperor went pale and trembled, an extreme sense of depression filling their hearts.

“No one wants to volunteer…” Qiong Qi sneered, “If no one steps forward, this Sir will choose one at random. There is no escape, so the only difference is who shall be first and who shall be last. Don’t be afraid…”

“Senior Xiao!” Violet Source Chamber of Commerce’s Vice President Lou Chi couldn’t help calling out to Xiao Yu Yang, seemingly pinning all his hopes on him.

Xiao Yu Yang’s complexion darkened as he realized that if he didn’t act now, it would be too late. Summoning a small mirror-like object into his hand, Xiao Yu Yang snapped it, causing it to burst into tiny specs of light.

As these specs of light flew out, a gentle but solemn pressure descended from the sky and a stalwart figure slowly manifested.

Everyone immediately turned their heads to look at this figure and their expressions couldn’t help filling with respect and worship.

This man wore a crown of gold and jade and seemed to stand as tall as a mountain while releasing a profound aura.

This figure, however, was illusory and ethereal, so obviously it was not a true physical entity but rather a kind of projection. Nonetheless, at this moment, this figure gaze seemed to penetrate space as it stared directly at Qiong Qi.

Even a beast as strong as Qiong Qi couldn’t help becoming slightly more serious as he snorted coldly, “A Great Emperor’s Soul Manifestation?”

From this phantom, he could feel the aura that only a Great Emperor could possess, so he understood who it was that stood before him.

This was clearly the image of an overlord of this world, the Bright Moon Great Emperor!

Just like the two most dazzling lights in the darkness, as Qiong Qi focused all its attention on the Great Emperor, the Great Emperor was also paying close attention to Qiong Qi.

“This King did not know Qiong Qi was still among us on this plane!” Bright Moon suddenly said.

“Hmph,” Qiong Qi coldly snorted, not showing the slightest weakness, “This Sir roamed the world freely before you were even born. How dare you posture in front of this Sir!” Qiong Qi narrowed its giant eyes and sneered disdainfully, “Or what, do you think a trivial Soul Manifestation is enough to subdue this Sir?”

One man and one beast confronted one another across space, causing the surrounding world to shudder. The mere existence of these two caused space to warp and even led to tiny Void Cracks flitting about. Instantly, the nameless mountain valley seemed to teeter on the brink of collapse.

Xiao Yu Yang and others did not dare to say a word, all of them just standing aside with solemn expressions, silently circulating their Qi to resist the horrifying pressure engulfing them.

“Sir Qiong Qi jests,” As one of the few masters of this world, Bright Moon didn’t mind Qiong Qi’s arrogant attitude and instead smiled lightly, “Bright Moon simply wanted to congratulate you on finally achieving your long-awaited freedom!”

Qiong Qi’s eyes darkened as he shouted, “What do you know?”

Bright Moon replied, “When I was young, I once heard that Sir Flowing Time had a playmate, a Divine Spirit, Qiong Qi. Unfortunately, after Sir Flowing Time disappeared, his companion also went missing. That was tens of thousands of years ago, but I wonder if Sir Qiong Qi still remembers those times fondly?”

“Flowing Time…” Qiong Qi seemed to be stimulated by Bright Moon’s words and the arrogant and violent aura around his body gradually faded, his eyes filling with a kind of fond remembrance.

Bright Moon stood there quietly, not meaning to interrupt, while Xiao Yu Yang and the other Emperors did not dare to move.

After a long time, Bright Moon continued, “I wonder if Sir Qiong Qi would like to come to my Star Soul Palace as a guest. This King has a relic of Sir Flowing Time in his possession that should be transferred to Sir!”

“Hmph, it’s useless trying to bribe this Sir!” Qiong Qi shook his head and snorted, “This Sir is hungry.”

Bright Moon smiled and said, “Then I shall prepare a feast for Sir!”

“So be it!” Qiong Qi said loudly, “Since you have invited this Sir so sincerely, this Sir will give you some face and accept!”

“Bright Moon shall eagerly await Sir’s arrival. This is the location of my Star Soul Palace!” Bright Moon said as he stretched out a finger and sent a ball of white light out to Qiong Qi.

Qiong Qi paused for a moment to contemplate before he turned into a fiery stream of light and disappeared across the horizon.

After Qiong Qi left, Xiao Yu Yang and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief as a gentle breeze blew past them, leaving them with a slight chill on their backs.

The Bright Moon Great Emperor’s projection turned around and glanced at them briefly, then without saying anything, flickered and dissipated.

“Many thanks, Sir!” All the Emperor Realm Masters bowed.

After a while, the six Emperors slowly straightened back up and began exchanging glances, all of them seeing the fear in each other’s eyes. Each of them was a powerful Master who since reaching the Emperor Realm had not experienced such a close brush with death!

“Many thanks for Senior Xiao’s timely intervention, otherwise today…” Cheng Yuan said with some lingering fear on his face.

“En, if it weren’t for Senior Xiao, I’m afraid we would all have been buried here today,” Lou Chi nodded in agreement.

Xiao Yu Yang’s face twitched slightly as he said with a wry smile, “It was Sir Great Emperor who saved us… it had nothing to do with this Xiao. However… Qiong Qi’s suddenly appearing here does not bode well for the Southern Territory’s future stability.”

When everyone heard him say this, their hearts sank.

Qiong Qi was an ominous beast that was literally a living disaster. Its mere presence would definitely set off some unpredictable and extremely vicious incidents. All the Emperors present immediately determined it was necessary to warn their respective Sects as soon as they returned so that precautions could be taken early.

…..

Inside the Four Seasons Realm, Yang Kai flew forward alone, crossing the Two Seasons Mountain Range as he headed towards the Realm of Winter.

Not long ago, when he and Murong Xiao Xiao were standing inside the Two Seasons Mountain Range waiting, the latter had contacted Xiao Bai Yi through the communication artifact Azure Sun Temple disciples all carried and agreed to meet with each other. After their rendezvous, Xiao Bai Yi did not happily greet Yang Kai.

After all, on the battle stage at that time, even though Yang Kai defeated Xiao Bai Yi in an upright manner, it also denied Xiao Bai Yi the opportunity to gain more benefits!

If not for that defeat, Xiao Bai Yi would have occupied at least one spot in the final competition where he would have a chance to snatch up an extraordinary treasure.

Yang Kai knew that Xiao Bai Yi had some resentment in his heart so he did not linger for long, only saying a few words to the pair before heading off to the Realm of Winter alone.

Halfway there, Yang Kai took out the fiery red bead to study it, but whether it was his Divine Sense or Source Qi that he poured into this bead, it produced no response.

Helpless, Yang Kai could only store it into his Space Ring temporarily.

The Two Seasons Mountain Range at this moment was incredibly calm.

Possibly because of the appearance of the Flowing Time Temple not long ago, or because of the appearance of Qiong Qi, as Yang Kai walked along the way, he didn’t encounter a single Monster Beast.

Two days later, he successfully crossed the Two Seasons Mountain Range.

There was a completely different world ahead.

As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but silver and white, heavy snow flying through the air, only a ground that was completely covered in thick ice.

A single step into this place was all it took for the ubiquitous cold to envelop one’s body and for the Ice Energy to flow into one’s pores, chilling blood and Soul alike.

Yang Kai braved the wind and snow as he began exploring this white world.

In the Four Seasons Realm, the natural environment of each realm was completely different. In the Realm of Summer, the sun was scorching and the temperature soared, but in the Realm of Winter, it was the exact opposite.

The Tribulation Fruit only grew in extremely cold environments, so the Realm of Winter was the perfect place for such a spirit fruit to appear.

Yang Kai’s hopes rose, but he also realised just how difficult it was to explore this domain.

As he walked along the way, crossing frozen mountains and rivers in the Realm of Winter, although he occasionally reaped some gains, those gains had only been some somewhat rare herbs and fruits, while no sign of the Tribulation Fruit was to be seen.

The omnipresent cold caused the Source Qi in his body to flow at least twenty percent slower than usual.

With no other resort, Yang Kai could only call out Liu Yan to walk with him.

Liu Yan was a Fire Attribute Artifact Spirit who had swallowed all kinds of strange and unusual flames, so she didn’t fear some trivial cold and was easily able to ward off the cold as she walked beside Yang Kai.

Liu Yan had to stick very close to Yang Kai’s side though and was constantly using her own warmth to dissipate the cold surrounding them.

Unlike in other domains, the Realm of Winter was seldom explored, and even if a cultivator was transported to this place when they first entered the Four Seasons Realm, their first thought was almost always to quickly find a way to leave here.

Unless one had a special purpose like Yang Kai, none would explore the Realm of Winter for any extended length of time.

As such, even after Yang Kai wandered around for several days, he didn’t see even a trace of another person. It was as if he was the only one alive in the entire Realm of Winter.

Three days later, somewhere in the Realm of Winter, Yang Kai looked around with a blank expression.

He was completely lost in this silvery world and couldn’t even figure out which direction to walk.

It was basically impossible for a Master like him to encounter such a situation, but the environment of the Realm of Winter was really too harsh and unique, making it so that even Yang Kai couldn’t walk around here freely while maintaining his sense of bearing.

When he looked back, he also saw that his footprints had been swiftly covered by the snow.

“What happened?” Liu Yan asked with concern.

“Well, it seems I’m lost,” Yang Kai replied calmly.

Liu Yan smiled, “So, such a thing can happen…”

“It’s fine, at worst I can just pick a direction and fly straight to leave here,” Yang Kai couldn’t help but sigh, “But continuing such an aimless search will probably not yield any good results!”

“It’s a pity… I can’t help you.” Liu Yan replied sadly.

Yang Kai grinned, “Staying by my side is the greatest help.”

Liu Yan smiled lightly but in the next moment, she let out a note of surprise.

Yang Kai noticed this and quickly looked towards her.

Liu Yan stood there, her eyes staring in a certain direction, her expression constantly changing until after a long time, she said, “Master, it seems I’ve found something very interesting!”

“Oh? What?” Yang Kai asked.

“Wait a moment, I’ll be right back!” Saying so, Liu Yan transformed into a flame and shot forward, soon after diving into a snowy peak ahead and disappearing.